Each client is pampered at studio, salon

Kimberley Parker/Special to the Standard Times Marta and Joe Gill, owners of Joe Gill's Art of Fitness Salon & Spa, joke with stylist Tori Spragg and esthetician Brooke Farris while waiting for their morning clients Thursday.

Photos by Kimberley Parker/Special to the Standard Times Doug Eakman strengthens and tones under the direction of personal trainer Joe Gill, co-owner of Joe Gill's Art of Fitness Salon & Spa in San Angelo, on Thursday. Gill, who started the business after moving from California, has 20 clients. He has been training Eakman for two years.

Marta Gill, who co-owns Joe Gill's Art of Fitness Salon & Spa with her husband, warms up on an exercise machine Thursday before beginning her day of providing instruction on health and fitness.

SAN ANGELO, Texas - California native and business owner Joe Gill knows how to stand out in San Angelo, an area saturated with salons, spas and personal trainers.

Since merging his personal training facility with a salon in October, Gill has offered his clients the convenience of a one-stop shop for all their fitness and pampering needs. The revamped business offers private fitness training with Gill or his wife, Marta, and is staffed with a massage therapist, three hair stylists and an esthetician.

"I wanted to be the only personal training salon and spa," Gill said. "We kind of have a deal with the car wash across the street, Gentle Touch (Auto Wash), so sometimes my clients will drop their car off, come over here, work out and then go to massage therapy. It's an all-in-one, and people are just loving it."

Some of Gill's clients who train with him Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays will reward themselves with a relaxing massage after their Friday workout, he said.

Having spa services also is convenient for his clients who are sore or injured, he said.

"During a workout, (if) somebody's sore, I can just call my massage therapist right next door (and say), 'Hey, I've got a person working out here; their back hurts,' and boom, they can go right next door and get a massage."

About half of Gill's 20 clients are suffering from injuries, he said.

"A lot of the people who have been set free from physical therapy and can't go to a gym have heard about me," said Gill, who is certified in personal training and geriatric training. "They've heard, 'He's not a physical therapist, but he's teaching me how to strengthen that' (injured area). A lot of people like that."

Clients also love the studio's exclusivity, Gill said. Women and men have separate workout facilities, and each client has his or her own private area.

"They can come in here and not have to worry about anybody else," he said.

"People that would not regularly go into a gym come over here," Gill said. "When they pay for their membership, they know that's their time. Every single piece of equipment has its own TV, its own DVD player, its own fan.

"There's different kinds of bottled water; there's protein bars. They know they can come here, and I have everything supplied for them."

Gill said being able to cater to his customers' needs is one reason he enjoys being a business owner.

"I've worked out in gyms all my life, and it works off the masses of people, so you can't make everybody happy — that's just how it is," he said. "At my place, I'm able to do my best to make every single person happy, from knowing what TV shows they want to watch during their cardio to knowing what makes their workout the most comfortable to knowing the different struggles they're having to deal with."

Gill was a firefighter in California before he became a personal trainer. Following the advice of his father, James F. Gill, a famous artist, Gill switched careers to focus on his passion for exercising. He became a personal trainer 10 years ago and opened three personal training studios in California.

"When my dad sold his place (in California) and moved back out here to his ranch, I came on vacation and loved how nice the people were here in San Angelo and decided to move out," Gill said.

Gill and his wife brought with them hints of the West Coast, decorating the studio and salon and spa walls with his father's pop-art paintings, the inspiration for his business' name.

He recently remodeled the salon and studio "with all white leather seats," he said. "You have waterfalls inside, and massage therapy has really cool lace netting around the bed and beautiful pictures. It really looks like a place California would have."

Standard-Times: Has the economy affected your business? Are people less likely to spend money on themselves?

Gill: The economy hasn't really affected me (at the personal training studio) because (working out is clients') main thing. They know they've got to keep in shape, and this is really the key to the longevity of their life. The facials and massages come next, and if the economy goes down, those are probably the first things that go down.

What I want to stress is that fitness is a lifestyle. You can't just starve yourself for 60 days and when you get to looking a little better, go back to eating what you want.

"We look at their age, the way they've eaten all their life, their vacations, all these different things, and say, 'What goals can we actually attain?' I'm not going to be able to turn a 60-year-old man into a powerlifter.

"The people that have started with me really realize after a while with me that they need to stick here if they want to keep their beneficial way of life.

Is personal training at your studio affordable?

For people that can't afford private personal training, my wife also does partners personal training. If you want to bring one of your friends and share the cost, that makes it more affordable. And if you want to be paired with somebody, she also does that.

Do you have any other goals for the business, any new directions you'd like to take it?

I've made the personal training thing succeed, and it's really doing great. I want to get the salon and spa going great before I decide to do anything else.

There are a number of gyms in San Angelo. Why do you think your facility has been successful the past two years?

I don't compete with gyms in town at all. There's no gym usage; it's personal training only. That's the difference. (Customers) know when they walk in the door I have everything taken care of. Everybody says they feel like they're at home here.

What do you like about being a personal trainer?

It's totally rewarding, especially being able to see people here in San Angelo who really don't have an idea about fitness or wellness. They don't really know what to eat and how to do it and where to start.

Being able to see a person that doesn't think they can take on any kind of workout regimen and being able to attain some goals they never thought they'd be able to do, it's just really rewarding.